Portugal Day 5: Palácio de Queluz, a Rococo Dream

So, let's continue with the coverage of my holiday in Portugal. I'm (not very) sorry but holidaying simply got in the way of blogging during the last couple of days - thus we have to play catch-up! My fifth day in Portugal was a one not including very much sightseeing, thus this will be a rather short post.

It does give a sneak peak into a place that will merit its very own post with l-o-a-d-s of information though, the Palácio de Queluz. The palace is one of the last great Rococo buildings to be designed in Europe.

Built in 1747 at the orders of the future King Pedro III, the consort of Queen Maria I, the Palace of Queluz was initially conceived as a summer residence, becoming the royal family’s preferred place for their leisure and entertainment. They lived there permanently from 1794 until their departure for Brazil in 1807, as a result of the French invasions.

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It's been almost a month since the last update on Confessions of a Castleholic and while the above picture might suggest otherwise (it's not a castle but the New Town Hall in Hanover, actually), I haven't been castle hunting for quite a few weeks now. Still, I wanted to give you a quick update to say that everything is fine. More than fine, actually: As some of you have already learned via any of my social media channels, I'm moving to Berlin later this month and so life has been pretty hectic and busy. But I'm looking forward to Berlin and discovering all the Prussian palaces surrounding it. In the meantime, castle hunting and blogging had to step back a little but I will be back with more castles later this year.

Today in Hanover, Hereditary Prince Ernst-August of Hanover married Ekaterina Malysheva. Here are some of the guests, in no particular order...
Margrave Max and Margravine Valerie of Baden, née Archduchess Valerie of Austria, with their son Prince Michael and his wife Princess Christina of Baden.
Count Friedrich of Ortenburg and his wife Countess Christine, née Baroness of Wangenheim, with their sons Max and Albert, who were two of the page boys.
Count Karl of Solms-Laubach and I presume one of his daughters.
Andrés and Lauren Santo Domingo.
Another picture of Andrés and Lauren Santo Domingo.
Prince Georg-Friedrich of Prussia and his wife Princess Sophie, née Princess of Isenburg.
Another picture of the couple.
Prince Heinrich of Hanover, uncle of the groom, his wife Princess Thyra, née von Westernhagen, and their sons Prince Albert and Prince Julius.
Another picture of Prince Heinrich and Princess Thyra of Hanover.
Prince Andreas and Princess Alexandra of Leiningen. She is a bo…

The death of Richard Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg earlier this week saw a surge in interest in my take on the (in)famous will of inheritance looming over the family. One point about the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg inheritance that many seem to find especially curious is the fact that the late Prince Richard never actually owned his family's fortune but that it was instead passed from his father - who went missing during World War 2 - to a yet unborn grandson - who was born in 1969 - (or anyone else, really, who would inherit after Prince Richard). The German nobility, however, isn't short of interesting inheritance constructions - case in point: The Thurn und Taxis inheritance.
The Thurn und Taxis family isn't just famous for their fabulous wealth, estimated at around $ 2.5 billion today - even though Princess Gloria of Thurn und Taxis says it less than a billion - but also for their lifestyle to go along with it. In fact, Princess Gloria of Thurn und Taxis may si…